This application relates generally to the field of electrical power generation and more particularly to electrical generation by Stirling engines. Even more particularly, the application relates to Stirling engines driving a liquid piston and electrical generation by reciprocal linear motion of magnets within a static coil.
Stirling engines in various embodiments are well known and can be generally described in their most common form as a heat engine that operates by cyclic expansion and contraction of a gas, often referred as the working fluid, at different temperatures. A Stirling engine is a thermo-dynamic, closed-cycle, regenerative heat engine wherein the gaseous working fluid is permanently retained within the system. An internal heat exchanger and thermal store, known as a regenerator, differentiates the Stirling engine from other closed cycle hot air engines.
Common Stirling engines suffer from problems relating to friction and wear, as moving seals are subject to degradation and failure over time. It is an object of this invention to provide a novel Stirling engine electrical generator that does not suffer the friction and wear problems found in other Stirling engines.